HOUSE OF CARDS || VKOOK

Chapter 48: Even if you die, I won't accept you again

The sound of a door being unlocked resonated softly. Taehyung walked into Jungkook's apartment before closing the door behind him. He leaned against the closed door for a few seconds, head hung low and shoulders slumped down as exhaustion was finally taking over his body.

After a few seconds, he pushed himself off of the door and turned around to make his way deeper inside the apartment until he was standing in the middle of the living room. Taehyung noticed Jungkook sitting on one of the stools placed inside the minibar, the blonde's back was facing him but he could tell the younger was having a drink to himself.

The older lad sighed, he sauntered forward and placed the divorce file on the surface of the coffee table. Taehyung took off his navy blue blazer and placed it beside the file before opening a few buttons from his chest area since he was sweating pretty heavily.

Taehyung returns his gaze to Jungkook's back view again, confused as to why the younger wasn't greeting him because he was pretty sure he wasn't that silent for the other to not notice his presence. Taehyung crooked his brows and took a few steps forward. "Jungkook?" He called.

Taehyung flinched when Jungkook suddenly dropped the glass of alcohol over the surface of the countertop and the glass also landed over the veneer effortlessly in the right position causing an irritating sound to concoct. Taehyung could already feel the tension. He could feel something was off with the younger and how the air around them was suddenly turning toxic.

Jungkook leaned back from the counter and whirled the stool around to face his lover who was already staring at him disdainfully. "Where were you?" Jungkook asked in an oddly mellow tone but Taehyung knows the younger lad better than anyone else. He knows when the blonde speaks a little too calmly which doesn't even fit his personality, when his doe orbs turn drastic, when his voice drops to an octave low and he starts to ask unnecessary questions, it's definitely a calm before the storm.

Yet, Taehyung tried to brush off his overthinking and took a deep breath to calm himself down. But the way Jungkook was gazing at him, the way his eyes were clouded by ambiguous darkness, Taehyung's anxiety was triggered by the stare only.

He knows this stare a little too personally.

The older cleared his throat before he began to speak, "At my place. I called Namjoon Hyung and Jimin to have a serious talk." Taehyung replied, he averted his gaze from the younger lad and trailed them down towards the coffee table where the divorce file was resting. "He signed the papers too," Taehyung stated and instantly looks up to see Jungkook's reaction. He expected a smile or at least, any kind of reaction that will express he is actually pleased with the information but none came.

"You don't seem happy." Jungkook deadpanned instead, tilting his head to the left side as he stares down at the older with the same precarious gaze.

Taehyung's lips parted slightly as he let out a small humorless chuckle. The chuckle came out like a puff of breath and disappeared at the same pace. The chuckle was more like a mockery to himself and the question Jungkook just threw at him. "Happy? Maybe I'm not in a situation to celebrate happiness at the moment. But trust me, I am happy." Taehyung muttered but then his eyebrows crooked together into a frown as if he realized something.

"Actually, I am relieved and content more than happy. Because—how do I put this in words? Because I feel free? Yeah, I feel free. As if I could finally breathe. That's how I feel." Taehyung expressed, smiling slightly while he openly talks about his feelings, exactly the way he discerns the whole situation. "As if a huge weight has been taken down from my shoulder." He then added while looking at nothing.

Taehyung frowned in confusion when Jungkook scoffed with a smirk. He could see the younger's jaw muscle was clenching and unclenching. What is even happening? Taehyung doesn't know. He thought everything was going fine between them this morning. But now, now what's with the sudden mood change?